Overwhelmed about how to get started

[lollie2357]

I've read a bunch of books/websites about WHY to homeschool, and I've read that its all open and free form and you can mix and match your own style and curricula. I just need some more detailed instructions! (what kind of learner does that make me?)

I know once I get the hang of it, I'll be able to mix and match, but I need help getting started. So I thought maybe if I told you what I was looking for you guys could point me to a specific curriculum or guide or something.

I thought maybe we'd talk about prayer and bible stories/lives of the saints over breakfast, then have structured education for a little while in the morning (this is the big unknown), playtime, naptime and chores, and then sometime in the afternoon/evening have some kind of experiential/activity/outing.

I'd love to have someone point me to a specific curriculum that works well with a semi-structured, semi-open learning style, geared towards preschoolers, and hopefully one I could stay with for a few years.

[SundayCrepes]

We're unschoolers and we're secular. However, I buy the books (that I pick and choose from) listed at www.sonlight.com. Using living books makes a lot of sense to me and their list is quite impressive. My son is 4.5. He really likes the science and Richard Scarry books.

Some of the books I've bought used online. www.allbookstores.com is great because they browse tons of bookstores and give you the cheapest prices. Other books that I wasn't sure of I got from the library to try them out first. Since you're Christian you will probably like their list even better than I do. They have a facebook page where you can interact with other sonlight users. http://www.facebook.com/sonlight?ref=search

There are other living books curriculums, this is the one we use. I've heard, though don't know for sure, that they have (one of) the broadest history curriculums out there.

[Lisa1970]

You might want to read books like Well Trained Mind (which is overkill in my opinion, but you can take what you like from it and it gives lots of good ideas to incorporate in whatever you do) and Easy Charlotte Mason books and such.

I just pick curriculum for the basic skills subjects and then have fun with the rest. Whether they learn about plants now or 3 yrs from now has no effect in the long term. Whether they enjoy learning will have an effect.

[skueppers]

Here's my opinion: preschoolers do not require "homeschooling". Preschoolers simply require living. Preschoolers learn everything they need to know through play and everyday life, and do not require any special curriculum.

I recommend activities like:

Playgroups
Library story time
Painting
Play-doh
Listening to books
Zoo visits
Playgrounds
Nature walks
Children's television (yes, really. My kids have learned a lot from shows like "Sid the Science Kid" and "Dinosaur Train".)
Museum visits
Programs for young children at nature centers, zoos, and museums, as available.
Mazes and dot-to-dot puzzles, depending on the age and interest of the child.
Pattern blocks or Mighty Mind
Board and card games

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by skueppers

Here's my opinion: preschoolers do not require "homeschooling". Preschoolers simply require living. Preschoolers learn everything they need to know through play and everyday life, and do not require any special curriculum.

I recommend activities like:

Playgroups
Library story time
Painting
Play-doh
Listening to books
Zoo visits
Playgrounds
Nature walks
Children's television (yes, really. My kids have learned a lot from shows like "Sid the Science Kid" and "Dinosaur Train".)
Museum visits
Programs for young children at nature centers, zoos, and museums, as available.
Mazes and dot-to-dot puzzles, depending on the age and interest of the child.
Pattern blocks or Mighty Mind
Board and card games

I agree with all this (except the tv shows.) I missed the op's kids were preschoolers. However, my oldest is only 4.5 and we do love the sonlight books. They are just good books that he enjoys. We read them with no plan, just whichever he wants to read (or occasionally what I want to read.)

Here are a couple he really likes:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Do-You-Lif...1889415&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Under-St...ef=pd_sim_b_11

http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarry...1889487&sr=1-1

[LuxPerpetua]

My dd is 4.5 and for book suggestions we have used Ambleside online, as well as just browsing the library and following others' suggestions.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by skueppers

Here's my opinion: preschoolers do not require "homeschooling". Preschoolers simply require living. Preschoolers learn everything they need to know through play and everyday life, and do not require any special curriculum.

I recommend activities like:

Playgroups
Library story time
Painting
Play-doh
Listening to books
Zoo visits
Playgrounds
Nature walks
Children's television (yes, really. My kids have learned a lot from shows like "Sid the Science Kid" and "Dinosaur Train".)
Museum visits
Programs for young children at nature centers, zoos, and museums, as available.
Mazes and dot-to-dot puzzles, depending on the age and interest of the child.
Pattern blocks or Mighty Mind
Board and card games

I agree wholeheartedly! Preschool, to lots of people, still means a time before school, not school. Here's a page I put together on ideas for preschool and kindergarten - articles at the top, and links to fun activity websites underneath - but kindergarten is also time before school. Not that I feel school should start at age 6 - there's no reason rich learning ever has to be set around school traditions - but just that there's no reason to have to be worrying about doing something in the way of "getting started" at those early ages. Just continue doing what you've always done, but adding more and more interesting exposure to the world as you go, and they'll be learning all they need to learn as they grow. You don't need to worry about structuring their learning experiences at this point - you may want to structure your days with a loose rhythm of what sort of general activities you'll want to strive to fit into each day (such as story time, nap time, nature time, etc.) but that's different from feeling you need to start introducing school-like structures. Lillian

[Lillian J]

A thought I had after posting is that those early years can be thought of as a time for orienting children to their new world while being a facilitator in their explorations of it. It's all new to them - their immediate surroundings, nature, sunrise and sunset, the sun and moon, the seasons, the night sky, birds and other local critters, all sorts of music and rhymes, the way simple things work, picture books to dream over, their bodies and what they can do with them in the way of fun movement, different foods and simple baking and cooking, the growth of plants from seeds and bulbs, beautiful phenomena such as bubbles and dew drops - get up close with a magnifying glass and look into the throats of flowers and dewdrops! It's all education - the only education they need at those ages - such an amazing world right there around them - all so new - and they really don't have any need for structured education when they're so busy playing, observing, and naturally getting acquainted with their immediate world with you nearby to point things out or answer questions. Lillian

[lmonter]

I'd say get yourself a free Sonlight catalog (I've found it easier than clicking ad nauseum through the website) and see if that gets your juices flowing.

But really, at preschool age? You're just learning through playing and life and all that. Reading and just living with your kiddo about covers it. Like when they're interested in tornadoes, checking out a few tornado books from the library to flip through. After a big thunderstorm, my boys were all about them, so there came the weather books. Now they're explaining rain and thunder and rainbows and clouds to cashiers at the grocery store. Because of Toy Story 1 being popular as of late, there came a spurt of Pablo Picasso interest. We're all kinds of random interests here.

I'm only "officially" starting to homeschool this year with my 6yo (he'll be 7yo this fall). I *am* using Sonlight this year as a guide, but that's because right now I need to be told to read this chapter today and those pages tomorrow (my house is in complete upheaval, mommy's fried). But only two weeks into it, and I'm already leaving out this and that, and adding this other fun thing, so meh. If you feel like loosely planning something out, groovy. Oh, and my 4yo and 2yo are just along for the ride. They get to read/listen to the neat stories, and do some of the fun projects [to their age/ability] as need be.

Another neato place is AmblesideOnline - I've added several of those book suggestions to our lineup and my library requests. Along with other selections I've noted from Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook.

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by lmonter

I'd say get yourself a free Sonlight catalog (I've found it easier than clicking ad nauseum through the website) and see if that gets your juices flowing.

Actually, I find the website easier. I just look at the newcomer packages and decide what I already have, what I want, and what I don't want.

Here's the p3/4 newcomer page. http://www.sonlight.com/newcomer-p34.html Scroll down to the green rectangle and click on the "View all 26 items."

Here's the p4/5 newcomer page. http://www.sonlight.com/newcomer-p45.html

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by Lillian J

A thought I had after posting is that those early years can be thought of as a time for orienting children to their new world while being a facilitator in their explorations of it. It's all new to them - their immediate surroundings, nature, sunrise and sunset, the sun and moon, the seasons, the night sky, birds and other local critters, all sorts of music and rhymes, the way simple things work, picture books to dream over, their bodies and what they can do with them in the way of fun movement, different foods and simple baking and cooking, the growth of plants from seeds and bulbs, beautiful phenomena such as bubbles and dew drops - get up close with a magnifying glass and look into the throats of flowers and dewdrops! It's all education - the only education they need at those ages - such an amazing world right there around them - all so new - and they really don't have any need for structured education when they're so busy playing, observing, and naturally getting acquainted with their immediate world with you nearby to point things out or answer questions. Lillian

This is just beautiful. We are unschoolers and I'm really into letting my kids just play and explore and READ, READ, READ. But it's so true. It's all new to them. I need to find our magnifying glass and go outside tomorrow with them before it gets too blasted hot.

We have a garden that my son helped plant. He loves it when I give him the responsibility of harvesting--all by himself--for our dinner.

[violet]

We started out with Five in a Row books. The FIAR books are full of ideas you can expand or mix and match but it is a great starting point. You can buy or borrow from the library the books listed in each FIAR book and they are such great books to read. And it's not busy work - it's experiential and talking and fun stuff. I found it was a great way to begin homeschooling -- very empowering--because I got to decide what activities we would try but if it didn't work, oh well, try something else on the next page. And there's lots of great online resources for FIAR support activities (like homeschoolshare.com lapbooking stuff)

[babiesforRuby]

Early hs

It's so refreshing to see these replies. I live in an area where it seems I am the ONLY one letting my children learn by exploring and free play. Even tho I'm opinionated about it and have great family support, it still gets easy to feel ntmidated or like im somehow letting my kids down. I picked a Horizons math workbook and teaching to read via Teach your child to Read in 100 easy Lessons for our K curriculum with my somewhat motivated 5yr old dd. I plan to spend maybe 20 min on each Topic per day. If we miss days here or there no sweat. I hthink the math will be stuff she's mostly done already just thru living, and actually gotten into on her own this summer. But there will be lots new to. Enjoying (most of) these hectic days with 3 littles!!!

[sarajonah]

Check out www.classicalconversations.com.
I'm guessing you are Catholic, so not sure if this would work for you or not, but it incorporates God into EVERY SINGLE subject. We are starting it this year with my 4 year old. No pressure. We'll just do the weekly class with the group and probably listen to the Memory Work CD's in the car during the week. I'll do phonics and basic math with her as she is interested in learning it at home. At her age, I don't think we'll spend more than 1 hour a day on actual school work. Mostly just learning from doing and exploring. Classical Conversations meets in groups once a week during the 'school year'. You do all your schooling at home but the children learn 'how to learn' during the weekly classes. It's based on a classical education model. There are lots of ideas about how to educate classically, and this is just one of them. Pros for this program are a degree of accountability ( I think I might need this ), supportive like-minded group, small classes (no more than 8 kids per class), a hands on craft time, music instruction and science labs as appropriate. Ages 4 thru 12th grade, so you can continue until your child is ready for college. When the children are older they get a lot of practice with public speaking and debate. They get a Christian world view education thru CC, but you are still their primary teacher. You can click on 'find a CC community' on the website to see if there is already one in your area.

[daisycleo]

I'm using Seton, and I've been really happy! (It is a Catholic program) You can buy their lesson plans or just the books, but it makes it super easy to put information together.

[Lenore K.]

My opinion on the use of television is that you are the one in control of it. I agree with the use of PBS shows. Some of them are well-done and introduce a variety of topics that we use as a springboard for other activities based on my now 6 yr old's interests. She plays their games on-line, too. It is all fun for her and I am amazed at the learning that does happen. She doesn't consider it "school." I document what she watches and what we do. What she does consider "school" is our calendar time and any sort of workbook pages. I consider "school" her everyday learning through everyday experiences - even chores. It is just a matter of balancing a variety of activities and experiences. The last thing we want is to get bogged down with a set curriculum. Sort of defeats the beauty of homeschooling. As she gets older she will probably need more structure and I will need to be more precise in my documentation. For now we are having fun learning and homeschooling allows me to take advantage of all those learning moments that can occur every day in any way!

[EviesMom]

I don't think you really need a curriculum for preschool, but having a routine or flow will probably help you both. The simplest one would be to look at what you're already doing and try to organize it roughly into days and general time frames. Something like:
Mondays are library day; we go to the library story time and hang out there a while.
Tuesdays are park day; Wednesdays are playdate day; Thursdays are baking day; Fridays are arts and crafts day. It doesn't mean you can't do arts and crafts on Mondays too, it just means that you have something to aim for and something you and your child can turn to when you don't know what to do today.

Timeframes I mean something that will also grow. For example, our current summer schedule runs like this:
Pre-10:30 Breakfast, get dressed, general clean up and play
10:30 Outdoor activities/playground/walk/indoor active game if it's rainy or snowy; anything out of the house before kids get indoor-loopy (I don't know if it's just my kids, but if we don't get out before 10:30, or even better, 10am, they start bouncing off the walls)
12pm Lunch and nap/quiet time
3pm Quiet transition time, reading time, snuggle
5pm Afternoon/evening errands or activities
6pm Baths and TV
7-8:30 Dinner/bedtime routine

Speaking of which, I need to put on real clothes and get to the playground ASAP, they're starting to get wacky!

[skueppers]

Originally Posted by Lenore K.

My opinion on the use of television is that you are the one in control of it. I agree with the use of PBS shows. Some of them are well-done and introduce a variety of topics that we use as a springboard for other activities based on my now 6 yr old's interests.

As an example of what I view as a positive effect of watching children's television, I took the kids to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum this morning. We go to museums quite regularly, so they're familiar with the museum and have a pretty good idea of what exhibits are available.

They wanted to see the dinosaurs, something they really had very little interest in before they started watching "Dinosaur Train" a few months ago. In the exhibit, they debated with each other about what kind of dinosaurs they were seeing, identified whether dinosaurs were plant or meat eaters based on factors like the kind of teeth they had, and made up stories about what was happening in the various displays. They were both really engaged -- with the exhibit, with each other, and with me.

Dinosaur Train piqued their interest in the subject of dinosaurs and prehistoric life, and provided them with quite a lot of information they were able to apply when they saw the exhibit in the museum.

I never would have expected to be cheerleading for children's television, but I've been impressed by what my children have gotten out of it once I reluctantly started letting them watch selected programming.

[scottishmommy]

I am by no means an expert, but this is what I'm planning on doing with dd for preschool.

Sing some children's folk songs, like "Mary had a little lamb"

recite children's poem's with actions, like "Ring around the rosie"

Work on phonetic alphabet one sound/letter at a time. Then read a book and find that sound/letter throughout the book.

Drawing/coloring/art project.

Outdoor play. Observe nature and talk about it.

Play with numbers a little bit. For instance stacking and counting blocks, dividing dry pasta into large and small groups.

[lollie2357]

Thanks for all the helpful tips.

I'm starting to feel like I understand a little better. I read that book titled something like The Big Book of Homeschooling - in which she summarizes some different methods and gives huge lists of resources. I really identified best with the charlotte mason method, so I started reading Catherine Levison's books as a way of introduction. Also, I got online and requested a bunch of catalogs so I could browse and get ideas.

We're learning some letters and doing some bible stories occasionally at home now, but I'm keeping it pretty laid back since she's only preschool age. I'm definitely learning and preparing for the future though.

thanks again for being such a supportive/informative community!